7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

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StoreLiker2006
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7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

Hi,

How many of you know about 7-Eleven stores? There are still many of them nationwide, but especially in Japan.

Most of the 7-11s I'd been at had the 7-11 square logo surrounded by two red squares on either side of the corporate logo, while newer ones post-1980 had the striped motif. The red square storefront motif disappeared sometime during the 1980s and 1990s (older locations would replace the red squares with stripes, attributed to be part of the remodel program the chain finally completed in 1996).

I actually remember about two early 1970s locations in Portland (1930 or 4516 SE Hawthorne Blvd) and West Linn (19100 Willamette Drive), OR, with the 7-11 corporate logo done up in neon. How many of you here have any pix of any early '70s 7-11s with the company's corporate logo in neon on the storefront?

~Ben
Last edited by StoreLiker2006 on 01 Jun 2010 13:46, edited 1 time in total.
rich
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by rich »

7-Eleven is owned by a Japanese conglomerate, hence the stores in Japan. They also have stores in Thailand (owned by a master franchiser based in that country). At one time, they had stores in many different countries including Hong Kong and Ireland. Southland Corp., their old parent over expanded and went bankrupt. They remained in places like DC, Chicago and Southern California, but withdrew from many other markets. The had a different logo before 1970, that was neon. The link for it is elsewhere on the site, but broken.
justin karimzad
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by justin karimzad »

Pleasant Family Shopping has a section on 7-Eleven with photos showing the pre-1970 logos;
http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot. ... l/7-Eleven
wrallen99
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by wrallen99 »

This old 7-11 in Tempe, Arizona still has the old signage:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=1 ... 47,,0,5.12

Just turn a little to the right, and you will see it.
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by jamcool »

Tempe has very restrictive sign laws (only street level signage for businesses), this sign was "grandfathered" in.

I remember 7-11 had an alternate logo in some areas..."7-11" in a rectangular sign with a rooster and an owl..was it a test logo?
StoreLiker2006
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

I'd also like to know what each store ID# sequence represents, this relating to how many stores the chain had opened each year. Think of it like how many inventions were made per year. Year A could have yielded 5 of this; year B goes upward of 100 more; and so on.

For example:
1974: Stores 1-13
1975: Stores 14-116
1976: Stores 117-239
1977: Stores 240-?

Stores wanted:
14495 - 7115 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR
14508 - 10435 SE 42nd Ave, Milwaukie, OR
17295 - 575 SE 92nd Ave, Portland, OR
17422 - 16725 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Portland, OR
18156 - 4516 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR
18259 - 19100 Willamette Drive, West Linn, OR
18410 - 7501 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR
18786 - 14810 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Portland, OR
19325 - 6303 SE Harmony Rd, Milwaukie, OR
20060 - 9800 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR (north of Clackamas Town Center)
20716 - 12820 SE McLoughlin Blvd, Portland, OR
23071 - 7800 SE Lake Rd, Milwaukie, OR
25527 - 8201 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR (north of Eastport Plaza)
29539 - 6897 SE Thiessen Rd, Milwaukie, OR

Going back to general stuff about stores like this, the picture of a neon storefront sign of 7-Eleven I'm trying to find is of their 1968 logo amidst a green circle.

~Ben
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submariner
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by submariner »

There's a 7-Eleven store at 1475 Melrose Avenue, Chula Vista, CA that has the old trapezoidal street sign, though with a newer logo inserted. I took a picture of the sign some time back:
Image
==========
Aaron
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StoreLiker2006
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

submariner wrote:There's a 7-Eleven store at 1475 Melrose Avenue, Chula Vista, CA that has the old trapezoidal street sign, though with a newer logo inserted. I took a picture of the sign some time back:
Image
There are scattered other 7-Elevens in CA and elsewhere with similar signs like this.

EDIT: On Flickr, user RetailByRyan95 has up another version of this road sign that belongs to the store at 7211 Richmond Road in Norge, VA, which is store #17672. Below the 7-Eleven logo is the "FOOD STORES" legend which squishes the former logo. That would be fixed around 1975-78 when 7-Eleven came out with a perfect rectangular logo which has the trapezoidal corporate logo on a green background.
Image

Newer logo with "FOOD STORES" legend below it:
Image

~Ben
Last edited by StoreLiker2006 on 27 May 2010 16:13, edited 1 time in total.
StoreLiker2006
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

The neon sign that I am trying to find that dates from the early '70s would read "7-ELEVEN FOOD STORE" with the words "FOOD" and "STORE" to the left and right of the 7-Eleven circle logo respectively. I'll bet this was applied on the storefront (usually centered).

I'll assume this storefront motif to be short-lived after the company switched to using the "three squares" motif (that is, the 7-Eleven logo is in the center square, with two red squares surrounding it) around 1976 or so. It was this motif that would be omnipresent at 7-Elevens new and old throughout the 1980s and '90s.

~Ben
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Brian Lutz
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by Brian Lutz »

Here's a Blog post I made a couple of years ago, showing contemporary newspaper photos of a 7-eleven store that opened in 1977 here in Redmond along with a Super Seven gas station. There are also modern photos of the same store and the gas station. It eventually switched to Chevron, although I believe it's still under the same ownership as the 7-eleven store.

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/20 ... -on-148th/
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StoreLiker2006
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

Brian Lutz wrote:Here's a Blog post I made a couple of years ago, showing contemporary newspaper photos of a 7-eleven store that opened in 1977 here in Redmond along with a Super Seven gas station. There are also modern photos of the same store and the gas station. It eventually switched to Chevron, although I believe it's still under the same ownership as the 7-eleven store.

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/20 ... -on-148th/
Thank you for finding that news article! If only I can figure whether or not the Oregonian ever makes mention of any 7-Eleven openings.

~Ben
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

Another thing: New 7-Eleven stores constructed during the mid 1970s typically had red shake roofs on the west coast locations, and some others bearing wooden storefronts, with the main building being constructed of red bricks. The logo consisted of the 7-Eleven square surrounded by two red squares on either side.

And furthermore, I'd bet some older 7-Elevens (circa 1968-73) may have had their brown shake roofs painted red.

All these locations seemed to switch to lighter shades of brown at some points in the 1980s, both for the roofs and the bricks. Again, all the old looks of these stores disappeared with the 1990s remodeling program the chain undertook, last completed in 1996 and said to be the most extensive in the company's history.

~Ben
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

I have a question as to the bricks and roof styles used on these various classic 7-11s: Is it true the bricks of the building structures were red from the 1960s up to the early 1980s, and then were a slightly lighter red-bordering-on-brown/tan from the early 1980s to the early 1990s, and then the bricks being cream-colored effective in the years when 7-11 as an entire company had undertaken a massive remodel program???

And as to the roofs themselves, I believe they were all shake roofs from the 1960s to the early 1970s, and then they used wooden mansard roofs in various styles (like the one 7-11 in Redmond, WA) from the mid 1970s onward (excepting some stores built as part of shopping centers)?

~Ben
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Brian Lutz
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by Brian Lutz »

Anyone got any idea if this particular 7-Eleven corresponds to any known styles? I'm guessing it was a conversion of an existing gas station, but there's a possibility it might be an older style as well.
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StoreLiker2006
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Re: 7-Eleven Stores (1980-Prior)

Post by StoreLiker2006 »

Brian Lutz wrote:Anyone got any idea if this particular 7-Eleven corresponds to any known styles? I'm guessing it was a conversion of an existing gas station, but there's a possibility it might be an older style as well.
All I can say at the moment is that this store, which seems to date from the early '80s, seems to mimic the older design so popular in the DC area as well as parts of New York and New Jersey. Its former store # was 23930.

~Ben
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